I want God to ignite my words with a match made in Heaven so that they burn in the heart of everyone who reads them or hears them, making them a furnace that spreads God’s warmth and light around the world.

Monthly Archives: February 2011

William J. Seymour is my third greatest American of all time. He was born in 1870 in Centerville, Louisiana to former slaves. He grew up in the midst of poverty and racism and had little education — although he did … Continue reading →

Tommy Lee Jones plays Thaddeus Stevens in Steven Spielberg’s new movie, Lincoln. However, many Americans have no idea who Thaddeus Stevens was. Thaddeus Stevens was born in 1792 in Vermont to a poor family and was abandoned by his father … Continue reading →

My fifth greatest American appears briefly in the new Steven Spielberg movie, Lincoln. At the time of the movie, Charles Sumner had already led the passage of the 13th Amendment in the US Senate, so he has only a passing … Continue reading →

A new PBS series, The Abolitionists, features five American anti-slavery activists: William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimke, Frederick Douglas, John Brown, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Here’s the story of Angelina and her sister Sarah. Two sisters, daughters of a prominent South … Continue reading →

(Read about all of my Top Ten Greatest Americans by clicking here.) Robert Carter III of Virginia was one of the richest men in Revolutionary America. (He would have ranked near the top of the Forbes 400 List if they … Continue reading →

Ida B. Wells is remembered during Black History month but it is hard to find much about her in American history books. However, in my thinking, she is the 8th greatest American of all time. Ida B. Wells was born a … Continue reading →

“There can be no freedom without equality.” —William Monroe Trotter Standing almost alone during the Jim Crow days of forced segregation, open racism, and public lynchings of the early 20th Century, William Monroe Trotter boldly spoke out for equal rights. … Continue reading →